NEW YORK -- The No. 51 Columbia women's tennis
team took down No. 32 Yale for the first time since 2006 in the
ECAC Women's Tennis Team Indoor Championship match on Sunday, Feb.
9 at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center, 4-1.

The doubles competition kicked the match off in an exciting
fashion. Tiana Takenaga and Ioana
Alecsiu dropped their No. 3 match against Yale’s
Courtney Amos and Annie Sullivan,
1-6. Teammates No. 24 Bianca Sanon and
Kanika Vaidya kept the Lions in the running by
bringing down Madeleine Hamilton and Ree
Ree Li in the No. 1 match, 6-2.

It all came down to the No. 2 match between Columbia's No. 20
Crystal Leung and Tina Jiang and
Yale's Hanna Yu and Sherry Li,
which was neck-and-neck the whole time. The Lions came back from a
3-5 deficit to tie it up at 6-6. In an intense back and forth
tiebreaker, the Lions came back again from a 3-6 deficit to win,
8-6, and clinch the doubles point for the Lions.
The singles competition had the same high intensity as the
doubles. Yale come out swinging in all matches pushing tiebreakers
in the first set of both the No. 1 and No. 2 matches. Yale tied up
the match, 1-1, when Yu took down Takenaga in straight sets in the
No. 5 match, 6-3, 6-4.

Jiang continued fighting to put the Lions back in the lead when
she brought down Sherry Li in the No. 3 match, 6-4, 6-4. Vaidya
brought the Lions to a 3-1 lead, defeating Hamilton in No.1 match
7-6, 6-0. Alecsiu brought home the gold in the No. 6 match, topping
Courtney Amos in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

The Lions are back in action at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center
Saturday, Feb. 15 against Maryland at 1 p.m.